Author: Sanqing, Foresight News
Original title: Trove allegedly embezzled funds and manipulated prediction markets after raising millions through fraudulent means.
On January 19th, unwise, a member of the Trove team, tweeted that Trove would be migrating to Solana . He stated that the liquidity partner supporting its Hyperliquid path had chosen to liquidate its 500,000 HYPE positions. Subsequently, the addresses that had purchased HYPE, as disclosed on its ICO page, began selling them.
Unwise tweet (Part 1), Trove associated address HYPE transaction history (Part 2) | Image source: X (Part 1, translated), HypurrScan (Part 2)
Previously, Trove had repeatedly mentioned raising $20 million, listing its token on Hyperliquid, and building its digital collectibles contract platform based on HIP-3. Based on this publicly available information, it has completed a $20 million FDV (Fundamental Date Voucher) and sold 12.5% of the total supply through an ICO.
ICOs have repeatedly oscillated between success and failure, diverting funds raised into prediction markets.
The Trove ICO was originally scheduled to launch on January 9th at 1:00 AM and end on January 12th at 1:00 AM.
On January 12, the project team announced that it had raised more than $11.5 million and extended the ICO by 5 days to 1:00 AM on January 16. 42 minutes later, they issued a statement retracting the decision and stating that the ICO would end as originally planned.
As a result, the probability of Trove ICO raising more than 15M, 20M, 25M, and 30M on Polymarket suddenly increased from almost zero to 40%-80%.
On January 17, blockchain detective ZachXBT tweeted that Trove transferred $45,000 from its angel round funding to the prediction market on January 11. Trove team member unwise replied that this was related to TJR (an English crypto KOL).
Image source: ZachXBT and uniwise tweets (translated)
In addition, according to crypto KOL hrithik, he has received multiple messages from the Trove team promising additional compensation for his ICO bids and posts.
Image source: hrithik tweet (translated)
Community feedback on the ICO changes and Polymarket activities included criticisms that the extension decision increased uncertainty and damaged trust.
Image source: Xero tweet (translated)
Regarding Polymarket, users accused it of manipulation and lack of disclosure, turning what was initially seen as a promising ICO into a demand for refunds. Some called it insider trading, causing emotions to shift from excitement to caution.
Image source: Maran's tweet (translated)
In violation of publicly disclosed ICO information, the site has been temporarily migrated to Solana.
Previously, Trove had repeatedly stated on Official Twitter that it had purchased HYPE tokens and would build its digital collectibles contract platform based on HIP-3, and that a test website had already been launched.
Image source: TROVE tweet (translated)
During its ICO, no changes were made to the relevant information.
Trove related information | Image source: Trove ICO page (translated)
The community strongly opposes the migration to Solana, arguing that the move deviates from the initial Hyperliquid commitments. Some participants are demanding full refunds and stating that it no longer aligns with their investment logic.
Image source: unwise (left) and Trove's Official Twitter reply (right), already translated.
Image source: Wazz tweet (translated)
As of now, Trove has not responded to the refund requests. They stated that a TGE will be conducted on January 20th at 00:00, followed by ICO token distribution and refunds for oversubscription.
Image source: Trove's Official Twitter(translated)
The Boundary Between ICO Promises and Investor Protection
The changes made during the actual implementation of the Trove project have deviated from the core path, technological dependencies, and liquidity commitments disclosed during the ICO, constituting a major substantive change rather than a simple technological optimization or iteration.
Image source: Trove ICO page (translated)
This practice of first inducing investors and then switching their investment strategies alters the nature of the investment target, rendering the initial investment logic invalid. Investors' demands for refunds to protect their rights should be widely supported.
The crypto investment environment is highly speculative and uncertain. Before making a decision, participants must carefully review the project white paper, on-chain fund flows, team history, etc., and especially evaluate the project team's transparency, timeliness, and compensation mechanism for any major changes.
Investors should be especially wary of project teams that do not disclose team information, have a high degree of anonymity, or experience delays in communication after changes.
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